Marketing Hole In One How GolfHQ married customer acquisition and retention to acquire and keep more customers
About GolfHQ Golf Headquarters, better known was GolfHQ, is a multi-channel retailer specializing in all things golf related. GolfHQ, which started with one brick-andmortar store in Northeast Ohio about 25 years ago, started their ecommerce store, GolfHQ.com, in 2006 with a heavy focus on customer acquisition and PPC. This case study examines how GolfHQ created a seamless acquisition and retention strategy by leveraging outside technology. GolfHQ utilizes Spring Metrics to help with customer acquisition and Windsor Circle to help retain these newly acquired customers. To date, GolfHQ has seen a 21% increase in conversion rate from their acquisition strategy and 61.7% more engagement through automated data-driven email marketing. In 2006 we started GolfHQ.com, over the past seven years, or so, we ve been able to grow our online presence. It exceeds our brick & mortar stores all together. - Joe Zumpella, Sales & Marketing Director, GolfHQ.com
Customer Acquisition Golf HQ was successfully bringing visitors to their site, but needed to figure out how to convert these visitors into customers. Golf HQ knew they needed to go beyond giving blanket messages and offers to visitors and to actually engage with each person coming to their website. That s where Spring Metrics came in. Working with Spring Metrics, Golf HQ created an on-site offer series to engage visitors and make sure they were seeing the right message to convert on that visit. First Visit: First/Second Visit: Results Target Audience First Time Visitors Visitors From Desktops/ Tablet 1,750 Facebook Likes, 15% Increase Conversion Rate Why With Spring Metrics, Golf HQ recognized that first time visitors were least likely to convert, but still wanted to make sure customers were engaged. By asking first time visitors for their name and email address, they were able to learn more about their visitors and start to build a relationship with them. Results 5,252 Emails Captured We started doing email capture with Spring Metrics because Pay Per Click is very expensive so you need to find ways to make the most out of every visitor to your site. Say you have 100 visitors, if you get email addresses for 10% of those visitors and then convert 3 into customers it enables to you spend more. - Joe Zumpella, Sales & Marketing Director, GolfHQ.com Target Audience First or Second Time Visitors Visitors From Desktops/ Tablets Time on Site Why Golf HQ created a second offer to target a portion of first time visitors and all second time visitors. This allowed them to continue to engage and grow their brand presence with visitors who were still new to the brand.
Customer Acquisition Other Visits: Target Audience Hitting a Specific Product Page Visitor on Site for Specific Time Why At this point in their shopping history, visitors are familiar with the brand and looking for specific products. Instead of offering new discounts to these customers, Spring Metrics allows Golf HQ to re-enforce their existing promotions to increase conversions and help visitors find what they are looking for. Results 52% Increase in Conversion Rate Revenue Lift New Customers Acquired Using Spring Metrics, Golf HQ is able to more specifically target offers and messaging on their site to engage with visitors during each step of their relationship. This offer series resulted in a 21% increase in conversion rate.
Customer Retention Building on their acquisition strategy, GolfHQ now needed a way to retain their newly acquired customers. While GolfHQ was sending batch & blast promotional emails, they knew they needed to create a more datadriven approach to drive their email marketing efforts. Working with Windsor Circle, GolfHQ built out 3 foundational email workflows: 3 part Welcome Series for 1 st time purchasers 3 part Win-Back Series for churning customers Best Customer email These emails have a 61.7% higher open rate and 35% higher click rate when compared to batch & blast emails sent during the same time period. Welcome Series: One of the most crucial steps in retaining customers is welcoming new customers to the family. GolfHQ implemented a 3-part Welcome Series for new customers. Email 1: Welcome to GolfHQ Open Rate: 42.6% Click Rate: 13.8% Email 2: Like GolfHQ on Facebook Open Rate: 22.8% Click Rate: 13.5% Email 3: We Think You ll Love This Open Rate: 23.5% Click Rate: 4% GolfHQ leverages product, purchase, and customer data to personalize all 3 emails by pulling in the product the customer purchased, personalized product recommendations (at the bottom of the email), and the customer s first name. The welcome series is another way to get new customers engaged and to stay top of mind. The ideal scenario would be when the customer is ready to purchase again they just go into their browser and type in GolfHQ.com. - Joe Zumpella, Sales & Marketing Director, GolfHQ.com
Customer Retention Best Customer Email: GolfHQ created an automated Best Customer email that is sent to customers when they cross the threshold from being a frequent customer to being a best customer. Subject line: Congrats! You re GolfHQ s Best Customer! Open Rate: 63% Click Rate: 8.8% Automatically pulls in hot combo product image. Automatically pulls in product recommendations based on each individual customer s purchase history. Churning customers are customers who were once high value but have since dropped off the map. GolfHQ created a 3-part Win-Back Series to engage churning customers 6, 8, and 12 months after their last purchase. The language and discount escalate as customers move from the first Win-Back email to the last. Subject line: Was it something we said? Come back to GolfHQ. Open Rate: 23.4% Click Rate: 8.3% Like the other automated, data-driven, emails, this Win-Back series pulls in the image of a hot combo product and related product recommendations based on the individual customer s buying habits. The ROI from customer retention is almost infinite, so to speak. It s something that s very important that we all should be doing. In the time we ve been with Windsor Circle we ve seen the percent of repeat customers and the percent of revenue from repeat buyers improve and expect to see those numbers continue to rise. - Joe Zumpella, Sales & Marketing Director, GolfHQ.com Win-Back Series
Data Drives Results By leveraging the acquisition and retention tools from Spring Metrics and Windsor Circle, GolfHQ has seen a 21% increase in conversion rate, 61.7% increase in opens, and 35% increase in clicks. They ve also increased their best customer segment by 16% over a 2 month period.
Spring Metrics allows users to truly engage with their site s visitors through targeted messages and offers. By understanding their viewers shopping process, e-commerce sites using Spring Metrics have seen a 21% increase in revenue and significant lifts in their sites conversion rate. Custom Offers/Messaging Understanding visitors is the first step to providing the right content. By using Spring Metrics analytics and Smart Offers, it s easy to ensure that each visitor is receiving the right message on your site. Targeted Email Capture Engage. Grow. Thrive. Email marketing is one of the most engaging forms of communication in the e- commerce marketplace today. Spring Metrics offers Smart Leads to allow users to create custom email capture forms that are targeted toward the right visitor to ensure initial engagement and provide the right information to build a long term relationship with customers. Social Media Engagement Social Media is only effective if those who follow or like the brand are actually customers or prospects. By using the Smart Social piece of Spring Metrics, users can easily and effectively segment messages toward people already on their website. sales@springmetrics.com www.springmetrics.com (919) 794-5003